Burning Desire
by Tessa Honeybee
Summary: Sideswipe is stranded in a snow storm after surviving an avalanche. He meets an unlikely ally. Sideswipe accepts his new ally's hospitality. At the same time he knows he must deny it, or become more vulnerable to the Decepticons.
1. Chapter 1

Sideswipe huddled against an ice wall inside a frozen cave. His optics flickered at the snowfall violently blowing outside. He was lucky to have found shelter so fast. It wasn't safe to be exposed to sub zero temperatures for too long. Of course any Autobot could endure extreame cold that no human could last long in. But like humans, it was the surviving sub zero temperatures that made the Arctic so dangerous for Autobots. Long exposure to the intense cold could cause even an Autobot to 'freeze to death'. Before the Autobots left HQ to trace a lone Cybertronian energy signature in northeastern Greenland, Ratchet gave plenty of "Be careful" lectures. Sideswipe wished he'd listened.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been separated from the group. Maybe an hour. As Sideswipe fidgeted in the cave, trying to find a comfortable position, he wondered how long it would be until the Autobots could find him. How long would it be until they rescued him? The wind's whistling outside was growing louder, and the blizzard seemed without end. Sideswipe held his knees to his chest and puffed out a breath of heated air. It only warmed him momentarily. Sideswipe's optics began to dim, but he quickly shook the tired feeling away. He was so cold, and so tired, yet he refused to recharge. Though it was tempting, Sideswipe stayed awake and alert as much as he could, and waited for an Autobot to come running through the cave doorway. His hope in an Autobot rescue team was strong. But his determination not to become an "Autobot-ice-pop" was even stronger.

Eventually Sideswipe got bored of waiting. He knew it was suicide to go out in the harsh weather when his circuitry was already suffering from the extreame temperature. But his boredom was starting to get the best of him. Slowly, Sideswipe dug into the ice and gripped the wall. He stood up and balanced on his wheels for a moment. As if someone had kicked at Sideswipe, Sideswipe's knee suddenly gave out on him. In a panic, Sideswipe tried to regain his traction. His right wheel slid out from under him and he started falling. Sideswipe brought his left wheel in so his left leg was in a squatting position. He thought he could stand up again from this position, as he pulled himself up from where his hands still had a grip in the ice. But as he moved, his left wheel suddenly slipped under him and twisted on it's side. Sideswipe released his grip in fright from the piercing pain. His fall was met with the worst pain when he fell on top of his twisted left wheel. Sideswipe screamed at the agonizing pain! As soon as he was able to comprehend what was happening, he pulled his wheel out from under him. The sight was gruesome. Sideswipe's ankle joint was shattered and leaking a pool of energon on the slick icy floor. Sideswipe could see where his ancle snapped. He tried to rotate his left wheel, but that only caused more pain at the leaking wound. Sideswipe hit the back of his head against the ice wall. 'Frag it!' he cursed to himself. 'All that from a single slip on ice!' Sideswipe looked out at the blizzard.

"I can't try going anywhere now, can I?" He shouted to the open air. It was times like this when Sideswipe thought Primus had a cruel sense of humor.

Due to Sideswipe's accidental injury to his ankle, he was leaking a lot of energon. Loss of energon weakened him much faster combined with the cold. Sideswipe tried to ignore the pain, but he couldn't help looking down at the wound every so often. He later realized that his leaking energon was freezing to his leg as it dripped. Sideswipe tried to move his wheel away from the frozen energon, but his wheel was already stuck in place. It was no use trying to break free from the frozen mess. He knew with the luck he'd been having that day, the odds were against him. It was more than likely that if he tried to pull his leg back, his ankle would probibly detach and his wheel would remain frozen in the energon and ice. "I'm not going anywhere anyway." Sideswipe said casually, trying to stay positive.

After six hours of being separated from the others, Sideswipe's perseverance finally broke. He gave in and curled up on his side without moving his ankle. 'Its been too long. In these conditions Prime probibly won't send a search party until morning.' That was Sideswipe's last thought before he drifted into recharge. But his recharge was no where near as comforting as he had hoped it would be. Even in recharge, he couldn't escape the harsh weather. Though weather was hardly his concern now. Sideswipe's recharge was haunted by tormenting flashbacks of the events earlier that day. The avalanche.

_(Flashback:)_

_The Autobots couldn't even predict it coming. The first sign was the tremendous sound roaring behind them. Sideswipe spun around, thinking a bomb had gone off. He stood in awe at the massive wave of snow rolling down the mountain. It came at him with incredible speed, and Sideswipe could only watch. Suddenly a voice rang out above the roar of the avalanche._

_"Run Stupid!" Sideswipe came to his senses when he figured the voice was talking to him, and booked it out of there. Sideswipe kept his foccus on the others ahead of him as he glided gracefully, and let gravity carry him faster. Sideswipe could feel bits of snow flying at his wheels, and could hear the crashing sound as if it were just over his head. At the moment, the only thing faster and louder than the avalanche, was Sideswipe's spark pulsing. Sideswipe tried to keep up with the other Autobots far ahead of him, but they suddenly dissapeared from sight as a mist surrounded Sideswipe. He had only seconds to comprehend how close the avalanche was closing in. As a last resort to gain speed, Sideswipe jumped and tried to transform in mid air. He knew instantly that he was too far in to escape. Then the impact hit him._

_The whole avalanche swallowed Sidewipe and pushed him down the mountain at a hundred and fifty miles per hour! It shook Sideswipe over and over again til he didn't know up from down. He barely got back into robot mode before he was nearly snapped in half. There wasn't enough time to feel scared. It all happened so fast, Sideswipe could only tense up and let the avalanche toss him where ever it pleased. Suddenly Sideswipe caught a glimps of sky and forced his head above the snow. Then the whole fear of the moment exploded out of Sideswipe. He was stricken with terror all at once. He cried out for help or a miracle of some sort to jump out and grab him. His scream was no mach for the volume of the avalanche. Sideswipe felt himself sinking under again. Before Sideswipe lost his view of the sky, he let out another agonizing cry._

_"SUNNY!" After that, Sideswipe was taken under. Instead of feeling more fearfull, Sideswipe tensed up again and went completely numb inside his processor until the tormenting roll down hill stopped._

_(End Flashback:)_

Sideswipe's own shiver shook him awake from his nightmares. When he came to, he could still hear the mighty wind blowing. Despite his loss of energy, Sideswipe generated a basic scan of his surrounding area. His optics lit up with life again. There was definatly a lone spark wandering out there. It was highly unlikely for an Autobot to go off on his own. The search party of one should have seemed suspicious to Sideswipe, but he didn't care.

"Hey! I'm in here!" Sideswipe hollered. He wondered if the wind outside made his voice hard to hear by the other 'Bot. So he kept shouting. "I'm here! It's me! I'm right here!" Sideswipe heard the snow crunching. His rescuer was walking closer. But just when the footsteps sounded so close, they were silent. "I'm here! Hellloooo?" Sideswipe tried again. Two thin orbs of red light peaked inside the cave. The strancer tip toed inside the cave walls and expanded their wings. Lights flashed fron the tips of the stranger's wings. The lights illuminated the features of the stranger, creeping ever so slowly closer to Sideswipe. The stranger was thinly built like a femme, had a burned orange paint decorating her chest, arms, and lower legs. The rest of her was painted a lighter orange or left glistening silver. Her black helmet which covered half her face was outlined from the blazing light of her deep, red, optics. Her thin metal lips drew an evil smile across her face, and she beamed that evil smile directly down on Sideswipe.

"Hello..." The femme hissed.

"Scrap!" Sideswipe growled.

**Author's Note: For a better image of the Decepticon femme, take the femme's description and apply it to Slipstream from TFA.**


	2. Chapter 2

"I hope you don't mind me intruding, but its terribly cold out there." the femme hissed. Her voice gave Sideswipe the chills. She continued further into the cave with her wicked smile and her crimson optics still locked on Sideswipe. Sideswipe tried to stand up and defend himself, but his leg was already completely frozen to the cave floor, from his wheel to his knee. Sideswipe tried the other leg. Maybe he could kick at his frozen leg and break off the frozen energon. His plan was shot down when he tried to move his leg. It was numbed from the cold and useless. Sideswipe was frozen where he laid.

"Stay away from me 'Con!" Sideswipe warned. The femme kneeled down next to him and reached her claws towards his face. Sideswipe leaned as far away from her as possible. He thought about his arm blades, but he figured that his circuitry froze up where it was at, leaving his car mode and weapons unavailable. The femme laughed at Sideswipe's attempt to distance himself from her. The femme stratled one leg over Sideswipe's injured leg and positioned herself over him. All this time, Sideswipe was speechless. He hated every detail of the situation. He was cold, tired, frozen stiff from the waist down, and at the mercy of a femme who he was afraid of, and oddly attracted to her at the same time. He had to be going mad. The femme stroked her claws under Sideswipe's chin and coaxed his head towards her. Sideswipe gave her his best inocent youngling look. "C'mon femme. Don't do anything like that. I've got a family." Sideswipe whined, trying a different aproach. The femme's expression didn't change one bit. She continued stroking her claws under Sideswipe's chin. Sideswipe was startled when her claws began to stray down his neck and over his chest. Fearing the worst, SIdeswipe instinctively grasped the femme's wrist in his hand, and held her away from his spark. His grip was tight and unforgiving. The femme gasped.

"Do you really think I would hurt you in these circumstances?" Sideswipe thought for a moment. He looked down at the femme's hand when he realized it was giving off heat. He was comletely mesmerized by the intense heat of the femme's hands. It seemed to him that he would never feel that warmth again in the fridgid waisteland of snow. The femme slipped her hand out of Sideswipe's and pressed her hand against his chest before he could block her. Sideswipe's spark became alive again and increased its pulsing. He fell completely relaxed and let the warmth of the femme's hands defrost his whole inner core. 'What the slag am I getting myself into?' Sideswipe thought. The femme took her hand from Sideswipe's chest. "Now do you see what I can do. I can help you..." She stroked her heated hand down Sideswipe's face plate and leaned in close to Sideswipe's right audio receptor. " ...and we can help each other." She whispered to him. Sideswipe was absolutly stunned. He couldn't believe what he was hearing or worse, what he was thinking.

"How could I be of any use to you?" Sideswipe femme got off of Sideswipe and kneeled next to him again. She snuggled against his shoulder.

"You're cold, and I'm lonely." She answered slyly. Sideswipe groaned. 'What am I getting myself into?' he repeated in his processor. The femme didn't seem to notice Sideswipe's groan and held her hand in front of both of them. She smiled at Sideswipe, waiting for a reaction. Sideswipe looked at the femme's outstretched hand, and back to her a few times. The femme finally giggled and said "Look!". Red flames suddenly lit up the femme's hand and flickered along her fingers. Sideswipe's optics buldged. The femme held the flames up to her face and showed Sideswipe the full view of her face in the flame's glow. Sideswipe tried to look away from her, but something kept pulling his attention back. The femme had a short blue line across the left side of her face plate. It reminded him of a scar Sunstreaker had, except Sunstreaker's mark of spilled blue energon was less noticable compared to the femme's. The femme held the flames in her hand and reached again for Sideswipe's face. Sideswipe pressed his back against the ice wall. Suddenly the femme's flaming hand changed course and grasped Sideswipe's knee. Sideswipe flinched, but felt no pain. When he looked down at his leg, the femme had both of her hands on fire, and strangly enough, she was massaging Sideswipe's leg. The femme was very thurough in her work. Within minutes, Sideswipe's spilt energon was melted again, and Sideswipe was begining to regain feeling in his injured leg again. "Sorry I can't heal, only defrost." the femme apologized. Sideswipe just stared at her.

When the femme was satisfied with her work, she stood up, walked over Sideswipe, and continued on with the next leg. Since this leg was more numb than it was physicly frozen, the femme caused her flames to die down. She massaged the leg with her heated metal hands, which were still tinted red from being inside the flames. Sideswipe began to move that leg as it was massaged, but he didn't dare move the more injured one. The femme looked up at him when she was done.

"So, I helped you... Now you have to keep up your... end of the... bargain." She panted. Sideswipe wondered if generating those flames made her _burn _a lot of energy.

"What bargain? I never agreed to anything!" Sideswipe argued. The femme ignored him and anxiously crawled towards him with that creepy and wicked smile. Sideswipe stuck his elbow out to protect himself. The femme placed a gentle hand on Sideswipe's arm.

"You're cold, and I'm lonely." She repeated. Sideswipe couldn't lie to himself. She was very pretty, aside from being a Decepticon. Even when the femme defrosted him, Sideswipe still didn't have any strength to be going anywhere. Sideswipe sighed. As much as he hated the idea of even associating with the Decepticon, he couldn't deny that he needed her special power and company. Sideswipe finally accepted the unusual fate and put one arm around the femme (not to please her of course. Sideswipe rubbed his arm over the femme's back realizing her back was generating just as much heat as her hands.) The femme's smile was no longer evil looking. She was content and peaceful looking when her smile relaxed. Her head fell against Sideswipe's chest. Sideswipe could tell the femme was preparing for a long recharge. Sideswipe interupted her before she dozed off.

"Hey. What's your designation?" The femme didn't look up at Sideswipe, and her optics dimmed.

"Yours first." the femme insisted quietly.

"Autobot Sideswipe, as in Sideswipe Hopes-He-Never-Sees-You-Again-When-This-Is-Over." Sideswipe answered. "Now yours."

"Decepticon Sunstroke, as in Sunstroke Will-Never-Leave-Her-Mate-Until-He-Doesn't-Want-Her-To-Leave." Sideswipe shook the femme off his shoulder and pushed her away.

"What did you say?" Sideswipe yelled. Sunstroke didn't say anything. She just giggled madly and scooted back to her position under Sideswipe's arm.


	3. Chapter 3

Hours passed and neither Sideswipe or Sunstroke said a word. Every so often Sunstroke's whole body would heat up in a sudden heatwave when ever she felt Sideswipe's core temperature drop. Sideswipe never thanked her for keeping him alive. He refused to thank a Decepticon. He was already secretly attracted to her, and she had called him her mate. Thanking Sunstroke or showing any affection towards her would only worsen the situation between the two. Finally Sunstroke scooted away from Sideswipe's arm and sat up. She was still smiling at him. Sideswipe looked down and tried not to stare at her. It wasn't because she was so pretty. Her red optics didn't scare him. The reason Sideswipe couldn't stand to look at the femme, was because of her scar. Ever since he noticed it and compared it to a memorable scar of Sunstreaker's, he couldn't ignore the scar. It was sickening to think that Sunstreaker and Sunstroke had anything in common, even if it was just one line on their faces.

"Do you have family?" Sunstroke asked out of the blue. Sideswipe gazed beyond her at the darkness outside the cave. To Sideswipe, the night seemed like it lasted a whole eternity, and his night with Sunstroke still wasn't over.

"That's none of your buisness." Sideswipe answered dully.

"Are you giving _me _the cold shoulder?" Sunstroke gasped. Sideswipe rolled his optics at her pun. "No matter. I already know about your family." Sunstroke smirked.

"You're a liar." Sideswipe said.

"I know your brother." Sunstroke snapped, drawing Sideswipe's attention back. Sideswipe shot a dangerous glare at her. It struck her like a slap in the face with a death threat, but Sunstroke continued to push her luck. "Your twin brother... right?" Sideswipe clenched his fists. His optics were locked on her, daring her to say another word. "Sunstreaker." the femme finished. Rage suddenly compelled Sideswipe! Unknown strength caused him to bolt up onto his wheels and lunge at Sunstroke. He pinned Sunstroke against the wall where she sat faster than lightning. Sideswipe grabbed the femme's neck and pulled her head inches away from his face.

"NEVER SPEAK HIS NAME AGAIN, YOU GLITCH!" Sideswipe yelled. Sunstroke quickly pulled herself together and went on. She blabbered everything out as fast as she could. Without knowing Sideswipe, there was no telling if these would be Sunstroke's last words.

"I know your creators are dead! You were there when they were murdured, and so was your brother. Your creators were murdured inside your home, but you didn't see! 'Cause Sunstreaker turned you around and held you still so you couldn't watch." Sideswipe felt paralyzed for a moment. Sunstroke was absolutely right. He hadn't thought about that dreadful night in ages. The memory was too much to take in. Sideswipe was already under so much stress. Sunstroke saw the dazed and frightened look in Sideswipe's optics. She reached her hands out and grabbed his hips. Sideswipe was about to retaliate, but then he stopped and studied Sunstroke's move. He gave her a confused look that could only be described as 'What the slag was that for?'. Sunstroke smirked. "Do you know why they call me Sunstroke?" Before Sideswipe could even think of an answer, he was attacked with an unbarable pain in his sides. Sunstroke's hands burst into flames and burned at his metal without mercy. Sideswipe screamed in agony. He cowered away from Sunstroke, looked down at his sides, and saw his armor glowing hot red. It hurt like Pit!

An aftershock of pain hit Sideswipe and he fell against the icy wall. Out of the corner of his optic, he could see Sunstroke standing back up. Sideswipe despiratly clung to the wall and limped as fast as he could out of the cave. The wind whipped snow in his's face as he walked outside. He dropped himself in the snow. Sideswipe's whole body shook when the burns caused by Sunstroke became half burried in the chilling snow. Just like a human suffering from heatstroke (a.k.a sunstroke), Sideswipe felt the chills, yet at the same time he felt like he was overheating. Sideswipe laid out in the snow for at least a minute, watching the aurora borealis dance above his head. Just when Sideswipe started to cool down, Sunstroke called to him from inside the cave.

"Sideswipe? Come back inside." Sideswipe got to his hands and knees. He looked over his shoulder at Sunstroke. She held up a single finger and clawed the air with it back and forth to draw Sideswipe back in. The tip of her finger was lit like the wick of a candle. Sideswipe grimaced at the sight. He couldn't stand the company of that creature one more moment. She was vile, deranged, and worst of all... she was _interested _in him. Sideswipe recalled the memory of when Sunstroke called Sideswipe her mate. Sideswipe drew the line there. He had to get away from her, warmth or no warmth. Suddenly Sideswipe lost himself and all sense of reality, in a state of confusion. He wasn't sure if he was standing or running or still lying on the ground. There was no darkness. He could still see blurry movement, but his processor couldn't grasp anything else. Sideswipe felt totally lost, not even knowing if he was alive or dead.

When Sideswipe came to, he found himself back in the cave. He observed his surroundings carefully. There was a fire started in the middle of the cave. Watching over him on the other side of the flames was the scariest femme he'd ever met. The angel of Pit outstretched her wings and narrowed her red optics at Sideswipe when he woke. Once Sideswipe obtained full realization of who it was, he groaned and hit his head against the ice wall in frustration. Sunstroke didn't say a word. The two stared at each other for a long time. Eventually Sideswipe's optics began to dim. Sunstroke could tell Sideswipe was getting tired. She sat up and walked around the fire to stand beside Sideswipe.

"I know your frustrated Sideswipe." Sunstroke whispered softly. She walked behind Sideswipe's still frame and sprawled out against his back. Sideswipe blocked the fire from her, but it didn't matter since she didn't need it. "You don't need Sunstreaker. We don't need anyone. You are my prisoner now. Listen to me when I give you an offer, sweetspark." Sideswipe felt like he was going to purge. "My fire will be yours and your spark will be mine." Sunstroke continued.

"You're... insane, femme!" Sideswipe gasped. He knew Sunstroke was far beyond insane, but he couldn't think of a better word at the moment. Sunstroke wrapped her arms around Sideswipe and roughly rubbed her hands over Sideswipe's burns. Sideswipe squirmed and let out small whines of discomfort.

"I wish you would be more understanding." Sunstroke sighed. "Not all Decepticons are evil." Sideswipe believed that.

He'd actually met one decent Decepticon before. The mech Sideswipe had in mind wasn't evil. He was just scared and in the wrong place. The mech was tricked into joining Megatron's army. Once he joined, he was trapped and couldn't escape. Sideswipe remembered how the mech offlined in the hands of Megatron. Megatron slayed him for defying the Decepticon cause. Sideswipe never forgot how brave that innocent Decepticon was for standing up for the Autobot morals he believed in. Sideswipe wouldn't allow himself to remember the mech's name. He didn't want to think about it in the presence of a vile creature that claimed to be good like him. Sideswipe dozed off into recharge with the mech in mind. It was a miracle Sideswipe could get any recharge that night with Sunstroke harshly scraping her hands and claws over Sideswipe's burns til morning.


	4. Chapter 4

The new day's light woke Sideswipe. He onlined his optics and took a look out the cave. He saw no sunshine due to clouds overhead, but the sky was very bright with the sun's light brightening the clouds. Sunstroke was already up and awake. She attracted Sideswipe's attention by tapping her foot against the ice. Sideswipe followed the clanking sound and looked up at Sunstroke. She was in the far corner of the cave and had her arms crossed.

"Good morning." Sunstroke said. Sideswipe laid his head back down, wanting to recharge until Sunstroke was gone. Sunstroke approached him. Sideswipe started to sit up so he could brace himself for whatever Sunstroke was about to do. He halted in mid motion when the pain struck him all over his body. Sideswipe looked down at his hips. Now he could really see where Sunstroke had singed him. Checking the rest of his body, Sideswipe soon discovered he was covered in new burns. Four on his upper legs, three on his right arm, one over each wrist, one across his neck, one over his tanks, and two long burns down his back. He grimaced from the pain each burn brought to every limb. He grunted and looked up at Sunstroke. She stopped in front of him. He couldn't read her facial expression.

Outside, the unmistakable sound of a helicopter cut through the air. Sideswipe heard it and imediatly pulled himself to his knees, despite the pain that came from the sudden movement. Sunstroke was at the cave entrance in seconds. Sideswipe could tell Sunstroke was determined to hold him there longer. So he stood up slowly and cautiously tried to escape her again.

"Those are my friends out there." Sideswipe said. He slowly stepped closer to Sunstroke and the exit.

"You're delierious! There's no one out there!" Sunstroke snapped. But Sideswipe couldn't be fooled. He knew a search party would be looking for him in the morning once the storm passed.

"No. I hear a helicopter!" Sideswipe argued. Sideswipe tried stepping around Sunstroke, but she quickly blocked his way and put a claw on Sideswipe's forehead. The look in Sunstroke's optics told Sideswipe that she was threatening another burn. 'Scrap, that would hurt!' Sideswipe thought. The helicopter's sound turned to silence, and Sunstroke smiled triumphantly as she lowered her claw away from Sideswipe. But then something reached Sunstroke's and Sideswipe's audio receptors. Somebody was calling Sideswipe, and their voices echoed back to the cave. They weren't far away.

"No Sideswipe!" Sunstroke yelped. She grabbed him by the shoulder. "They're not your friends. They're mine. Decepticons!" Sunstroke explained in a hurry. Sideswipe didn't hesitate to assume she was lying. "The Decepticons are looking for you. If they find you, you will be taken away from me and they will kill you!" Sunstroke gasped. Knowing she was lying the whole time, Sideswipe decided it wouldn't hurt to pull a few jokes while he was at it. He slowly nodded at Sunstroke and bobbed his head up and down continually. This frustrated Sunstroke. "This is serious Sideswipe! Do you want to die?"

"Well now the dying part doesn't seem so great. But when you mention them taking me away from _you... _eh... It will be worth it." Sideswipe said casually. Sunstroke slapped her overheated hand across Sideswipe's face. Sideswipe drew back, but kept his care free loose expression.

"I mean it Sideswipe. You're mine! I can't let you go out there and get killed!"

"I on the other hand would be more than happy to let you go out there and get killed!" Sideswipe laughed. He collapsed on the ground like he'd had too many high grade energon cubes. But he kept smiling. He knew he was making a complete fool of himself, but that didn't matter as long as his plan worked long enough to get away from his disturbed captor. Sunstroke scowled at him and crouched down to pick up his upper half.

"Pathetic!" She grumbled. Just when she started to tug on Sideswipe, Sideswipe suddenly became alive and grabbed Sunstroke by the shoulders. He flipped her over him and they both rolled out of the cave in a double sommersault tumble. Sunstroke hissed viciously once she pulled herself out of the snow. Sideswipe scrambled to his knees and crawled as fast as he could to get away. 'What I wouldn't give for my alt mode right now!' Sideswipe thought, thinking of how fast he could wheel out of there and never see Sunstroke again. But that was impossible. His legs were still a pain to walk on, let alone transform along with the rest of his body. Sidewipe didn't get far. Sunstroke tackled him and pinned him down in the snow. Her whole body burst into a giant flame! Sideswipe cried out an ear splitting scream as his whole back side became torched in Sunstroke's massive flames. "I'd like to teach you the definition of the humans' phrase _love hurts._" Sunstroke sneared as she cooled down. When the flames disappeared, Sideswipe growled at her.

"I'd like to teach you my definition of _Jet Judo_!" Sideswipe was sure Sunstroke was trying to inflict more pain upon him, but he was too distracted by a different source of discomfort. Sideswipe wouldn't look over the horizon for the helicopter. He wouldn't look over his shoulder at Sunstroke. All he could focus on was this new sensation of something tinkering with his spark. The feeling came in quick shocks. One after the other. He kept looking down at the snow, and tried to reach for his chest. Suddenly Sunstroke was gone. Her presence left Sideswipe alone with the unknown force pulling at his spark. Sideswipe curled into a ball and held his fist over his spark once he was capable of moving. Then a familiar voice called out to him. It irritated Sideswipe as it repeatedly called his name in an unfriendly tone. Sideswipe wondered why he should be so happy to hear the voice when it didn't sound happy with him. But the voice kept calling and soon Sideswipe began to hear an entire conversation, though the words were too muffled to understand. It almost felt like the voice was taunting him now. Sideswipe burried his head down into the snow, and tried to block out the mumbling voice. After a few seconds Sideswipe began to understand what the voice was saying.

_"C'mon Sideswipe! W..kup...Wake up!" _

For a moment everything was dark. Sideswipe couldn't feel the gentle cool of snowflakes brushing against his burns. He couldn't feel anything. When his optics flickered back online his head was spinning and blurry images of Cybertronians were huddled around him. Even in his dazed and confused state, Sideswipe knew one of the blurry figures infront of him was Ratchet. The one next to Ratchet was closing up Sideswipe's chest plates. (He would later recognize the second mech as Jolt, who saved his life.) Ratchet held Sideswipe's chin up and shined a light in one optic at a time. Sideswipe had waken up from near death experiences in Ratchet's care enough times to know what to do. He followed the light in each direction and shuddered his optics when Ratchet flashed it.

"Can you hear me Sideswipe?" Ratchet asked while scanning Sideswipe.

"Yeah." Sideswipe sighed. He took Ratchet's hand and gave it a rough hand shake. "Thank you." Sideswipe said weakly. He knew he should thank Ratchet at that moment, because he knew he would be too proud to thank him when he was better. Ratchet grunted.

"Anytime Snowball." Ratchet taunted, giving Sideswipe a lift up into his arms. Ratchet mumbled something about how he was getting 'too old to be rescuing a certain youngling every day' as he carried Sideswipe out of the cave with Jolt by his side. Suddenly Sideswipe realized something.

"Snowball?" He whined.

"Since this morning, it has become your official nickname." Ratchet explained in a half serious tone.

"Why?"

"The avalanche." Sideswipe scowled at Ratchet.

"Well how was I suposed to know it was dangerous? I haven't been here that long! And besides that, I thought I was gonna die!"

"True. You have some excuse for this insident with less experience on Earth than the rest of us. Although some 'Bots did find it funny watching you roll head over wheels down the mountain." Sideswipe gave Ratchet a look. "Don't worry. We were all concerned for you. Its just that some 'Bots found the scene funny... once we knew you were okay." Sideswipe didn't even have to ask who started the Snowball nickname.

"Twins." Sideswipe growled.

The rest of the trip back to Diego Garcia was all a cloudy memory. All Sideswipe really remembered was being inside an enormus jet specificly designed for the Autobots. Will Lennox and Robert Epps accompanied the two medics and a handful of other humans. Sideswipe specificly remembered Lennox and Epps bringing him an Autobot sized heated blanket (with Ratchet's permission). Sideswipe looked up at the humans and brought himself out of his half awake half recharge mode. He smiled with gratitude once he recognized his friends.

"Thanks guys." Sideswipe whispered. "Be careful of the...burns." He added. The two humans looked at each other and then at Ratchet. Ratchet just shook his head at them. He had already warned them that Sideswipe might be a little confused while recovering. Will Lennox took a look at Sideswipe's back as he pulled the blanket over him. Sideswipe didn't have a mark on him. He was frozen stiff, but there definatly wasn't anything like a burn on him.

Sideswipe recharged for the rest of the flight back to HQ. He was still in recharge when Ratchet carried him inside base. The next time Sideswipe Woke from recharge, he was lying on a berth in Ratchet's med bay. The minute Sideswipe stretched his arms and legs he knew something was different. He jumped up and franticly started checking over his body. Ratchet noticed Sideswipe was up and stared at his strange fidgeting.

"What are you doing, youngling?" Ratchet demanded. Sideswipe glanced up at him with frightened optics.

"Ratchet, am I okay?" Sideswipe choked. Ratchet gave Sideswipe a look and walked over to him. He grabbed hold of Sideswipe's wrist and held it still. What he didn't count on was Sideswipe's yelp. Ratchet patted Sideswipe's shoulder to bring Sideswipe's attention back to him.

"Calm down Sideswipe. That didn't hurt you, did it?" Ratchet said soothingly. Sideswipe slowly shook his head. Ratchet's shoulders slouched. "Then what the frag is your malfunction, sparkling?" Ratchet snapped.

"It's suposed to hurt! I don't know what happened! You couldn't have done anything. At least not that fast." Sideswipe panicked, still turning his wrists over. Ratchet let go of Sideswipe and waited for a better exclaimation. Sideswipe sighed and continued on. "I'm supposed to have burns _all over my body. _I met a Decepticon while I was stranded out there, and she burned me like the Pit!"

"I didn't know there were any femme Decepticons stationed on Earth." Ratchet said.

"Well there's one for sure. She burned me and I couldn't get away because of the snow storm, and my leg was busted!"

"Sideswipe, your leg was fine when we found you. You were perfectly opperational, aside from the cold almost taking your life." Sideswipe slowly began to piece everything together. He pulled one wheel up to his lap and rotated his ankle.

"Are you sure this wasn't leaking energon earlier? Maybe, on the verge of falling off?"

"I'm absolutly sure." Then the final piece was in Sideswipe's hands.

"Were there any signs of someone being with me? Footprints in the snow? Anything? What about a fire? Sunstroke started a fire in the middle of the cave." Sideswipe babbled.

"No one was with you, Sideswipe." Ratchet said. Sideswipe bowed his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Then, was it all just a bad dream? A halusination in my head?" Sideswipe quivered. Ratchet pulled up a chair and sat next to Sideswipe's berth.

"What did you say the femme's name was?" Ratchet asked.

"Sunstroke."

"Did Sunstroke ever do anything that made you suspect what you were seeing wasn't real?" Sideswipe thought Ratchet's question over.

"I think she wanted to interface with me." Sideswipe said honestly. Ratchet rubbed his hand over his optics.

"Anything else?" Ratchet dared to ask.

"Yeah. She...sort of gave a description of my creators' murder." Sideswipe studdered.

"Go on." Sideswipe really didn't want to, but he figured if he was going to tell anyone, it wouldn't be so bad if it was Ratchet. Sideswipe broke optic contact with Ratchet. Not only was this a sensitive part of Sideswipe's past, but the conversation he had with Sunstroke was even more disturbing now because Sideswipe understood that Sunstroke wasn't really there.

"I was getting angry at her for talking about Sunny. She said she knew my family. She said she knew my creators were murdered in my home and Sunny and I were there when it happened. She knew about how Sunny watched...but...he forced me to look the other way." Sideswipe shuddered. "And I still heard every scream, every cry, until my creators were no more." Ratchet nodded sympatheticly. "I was so angry when I heard her say all those things."

"Do you think it could be possible this whole hallucination was the result of missing Sunstreaker?" Ratchet questioned. Sideswipe still didn't look at him.

"I guess so." Sideswipe shrugged. "What do I do?"

"We can only wait, Sideswipe. You know he is out ther searching for you." Ratchet said.

"I know. I just feel so alone without him." Ratchet didn't know what to say at this point. He offered Sideswipe a cube of energon. It was the first energon Sideswipe drank since the day before. He drank it down eagerly, but it still didn't make him feel any better. Ratchet took the empty cube from Sideswipe.

"Go to your quarters. You're excused from your daily duties until further notice." Ratchet ordered. Sideswipe scooted off the berth, and made his way for the door. "And Sideswipe?" Ratchet called without looking back at him. Sideswipe stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "You can relax now. She's gone." Ratchet comforted. Sideswipe grinned at the old medic and went on his way.


End file.
